Are the Red Letters Any More Important Than the Black Letters?

If scripture is inspired and from God are the words of Jesus any more or less important than all the rest of the Old and New Testament? And for a related brain teaser - who is speaking in John 3:16? Does John the apostle begin to narrate his own commentary about the events or is [...]

From Complex to Simple

There is a move in churches from the complex to the simple. We have spent so many years discussing fine tuned doctrines and what makes this church distinctive from that church. It seems to me that many churches and Christians are moving from the complex web of doctrines to a more simple approach to Christianity [...]

Crucifixion of Jesus Christ - The Bigger Picture

The temptation when teaching about the crucifixion is to talk about the Romans, Roman courts, Pilate, Crucifixion, and prisoner release customs when dealing with the first 15 verses. Then in the verses that follow to discuss the suffering of Jesus and how he died for our sin (15:16-47). I want to suggest an alternative approach [...]

Rethinking Relevant Church - Taking on Goliath’s Challenge

What is it that makes the church/Christianity relevant? Some Christians must think being loud and obnoxious is what it takes to be relevant. I am very thankful that is a small handful of people. Some Christians think we are relevant when America is considered a Christian nation. I am glad that God’s kingdom is much [...]

Gospel of Mark - Common Mission & Message (6:6b-30)

Mark is certainly a delicious book with all of the sandwiches he leaves throughout the narrative. We have another sandwich in Mark 6.
Crust - Jesus Sends out the Twelve (6:6b-13)
Meat - John the Baptist Beheaded (6:14-29)
Crust - The Twelve Return (6:30-30)
The inner part always illuminates the outer part. What does that have to teach us [...]

The Gospel Is Not Like Deal or No Deal

One thing I love about the Gospel is that you can knock out all the big amounts, decide to take the deal and still get the biggest prize. Abraham tried to circumvent the plan, David messed with another man’s wife and even got the husband killed, Peter denied Christ and Paul called himself “chief of [...]

Transformational Ministry of Christ #4

Mark 1:21-28
Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. All ears are attentive to the authority of his teaching. People sit in slack-jawed wonder at this man who told them about God and the law in ways they had never heard before. In mid-sentence, a man stands up and begins shouting. His words are incomprehensible. His movements [...]